Question: If the sales tax in your city is $5.9\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$64$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${5.9\%} \times {\$64} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5.9\%$ is equivalent to $5.9 \div 100$ $5.9 \div 100 = 0.059$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.059$ $\times$ $$64$ = $$3.78$ You would pay $$3.78$ in sales tax.